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Huawei revenue up by almost one quarter for third quarter

Bans are yet to hit the Chinese giant's bottom line.
Written by Chris Duckett, Contributor

Huawei announced on Tuesday its revenue hit 611 billion yuan, approximately $86 billion, for the third quarter, a jump of 24.4% over the same period last year.

In a statement short on numbers, the company also said its net profit margin for the period was 8.7%.

The company added its smartphone business had shipped 185 million units over the three quarters for the year to date, an increase of 26% year on year.

On 5G, the company said it had signed 60 commercial contracts and shipped over 400,000 5G Massive MIMO antennas.

This week, Germany released draft rules for network security in the country, which indicated it could allow Huawei to supply 5G networking equipment.

Huawei welcomed the move, calling it a fact and standards-based approach.

"Germany has set higher and consistent security standards for all vendors. Advanced declarations and process-based inspections will be adopted, and all vendors are equally and fairly welcome to participate in the construction of 5G networks if they fulfill the security requirements," the Chinese giant said in a statement.

"Politicising cyber security will only hinder technology development and social progress while doing nothing to address the security challenges all countries face. Huawei will continue to work openly with regulators, customers, and industry organisations to ensure that mobile networks are secure."

Earlier in the week, Huawei announced it had opened a 5G research centre in Switzerland alongside Swiss telco Sunrise.

At the start of the month, Malaysian telco Maxis signed a deal to deploy its 5G network using Huawei equipment.

Huawei is currently banned from supplying 5G equipment in Australia, as well as being placed on the United States Entity List.

A recent report published by the European Commission and European Agency for Cybersecurity warned 5G would increase attack paths for state actors.

Central to the report's thrust is the increasing use of software within 5G, such as for network virtualisation and slicing, and how a lack of skills within telcos would see a reliance on suppliers.

The report especially warned about relying on a single supplier, especially ones not based in the European Union.

"The increased role of software and services provided by third party suppliers in 5G networks leads to a greater exposure to a number of vulnerabilities that may derive from the risk profile of individual suppliers," the report states.

"Major security flaws, such as those deriving from poor software development processes within equipment suppliers, could make it easier for actors to maliciously insert intentional backdoors into products and make them also harder to detect. This may increase the possibility of their exploitation leading to a particularly severe and widespread negative impact."

In March this year, the board that oversees security of Huawei equipment used in UK telco networks said that technical issues with the Chinese company's engineering processes have led to new risks.

A month earlier, it was reported that it would take Huawei three to five years and $2 billion to fix a number of flaws that were found in its equipment in 2018.

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